Process of and apparatus for producing power.



W. L.v DEMPSEY.

PROCESS 0F AND AEPARATUS FOR PRODUCING POWER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 1u1913 Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

2 SHEETSTSHEET l.

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FILL.

W. L. DEMPSEY.

PROCESS F AND APPARATUS FOR PRoDuclNG P0wER.-

APPLlCATION FILED lULY ll. 1913- l 176,207'.4 4 Patented Mar. 21,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2'.

. rnociisss or AND APPARATUS Fon. PnoDUcINe rownn.

immo?- speciac'ation of Letters Patent.

Application mea my 11,1913. serialNo.'7713,532. i f y To all whom it mayconcern Be it known that I, WILLIAM a 'citizen of the United States, anda resident of Somerville, in the county of Middle- L. DEMPsnY,v

more compact, more economical, lighter and more eiicient than. any withwhich 'I am familiar.

"To such ends lv have devised a process Patented Mar.. ai, raie.

60 sex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, wherein the initial energy ofan exploding have made certain new and useful Improvecharge 1s utilizedfor the .production of ments in Processes o f and Apparat-us for power,and then such partly `expanded Producing Power, of which the followingis charge is delivered to a separate but cona full and exactdescription. nected power-producing means for securing 65 10. As is wellknown, the usual types of in-4 the balance of power contained in suchternal combustion engines, while much more charge. Y economical thansteam engines for the pro- My process further consists fin cooling byvduction of power, are nevertheless quite,` means of a fluidthe innersurface o'f the wasteful of thermal` units, and hence of rstpower-producing means, and in utiliz- 70 A power, in several ways. Inthe rst place, ing the energy of such vaporized iuid for the high degreeof heat produced by the exthe propulsion of the second power-proplosion,or instantaneous combustion, of the dupmg means; and also in coolingby asuitcharge, is ordinarily gotten-rid of-V-that is," ab e fluid thepartly exploded charge on its thrown' away,-either by direct radiation,way to the second power-producing means, .75 or by a water jacket, orboth, and no ,power `and utllizlng the energy of such vaporized isderived from such wasted thermal units. Huid for added.propulsive-edort. In the secondl place, the thermal units-con- Themechanism I have devised for carry tained lin the? exhaust, and theresidual ing my process intolefect consists essentially power containedtherein, are also usually of a reciprocating engine geared toa tur- 30wasted, particularly inengines for motive bine engine so that the latterwill rotateat power purposes.' Moreover',the usual types a far higherspeed, and adapted to discharge lof internal'combustion engines do notfurits exploded charge to the vanes of the tur, nish a constant torque,or turning eect, bine at anearly point of the reciprocating upon thelcrank shaft, but apply the power engines stroke; the reciprocatingengines 35 derived from the explosive charge in an incylinder beingpreferably constructed to take- 'termittent or spasmodic way. It is alsoless in air, or water, or both, before the terminaeffective than itwould be if a heavier charge tion of its working stroke, and where watercould be drawn into the cylinder at each is taken in, to deliver thesteam therefromto I charging stroke of 'the piston. the vanes of theturbine for the` development 90 The purpose lof my invention is the deoffurther power and the diverging nozzle, vising of a process, and theconstruction of through which the exhaust from the recipro mechanism for-carrying the same into effect, .eating engine to the turbine isconducted, whereby to conserve a' large proportion of being furtheradapted to' be'cooled by water l the thermal units' ordinarily 'lost asabove and to deliver steam generated by such cool- 95 40 recited, and toconvertfthe same into power. ing as added propulsive means for the -tul-My purpose is further the effecting of bine. l K y means whereby analmost constant ltorque or Referring to the drawings forming partturning action will be exerted uponl the of this specification, Figure 1is a sectional crank shaft, and for charging. the cylinder plan view onthe line Y-Y in Fig. 2 of an 100 with a heavier charge than4has'heretofore engine embodying V'my improvements and been done. l f'fvadapted forv carrying my process'into effect. vFurther ypurposes are.'the1pr`vi'sion of Fig.V 2 is across section ofthe same on the-means-for ooli'n'g. the combustion chamber line-X-X in Fig. -1. Fig. 3is a perspective from withnand the utilization ofthe cool'- View .of aportion of the turbine cylinder, 105 ing substance for'theimmediateiproduction -showing azpartvof onel of the stationary vane -ofpower; theconstruction of a. turbine en rmembers.` Fig.` 4 is aperspective view 4of gine driven'by'an explosive charge, and the one ofthe drums or wheels composing a part .effecting of means forlower'ingthe temperaof the rotor ofthe turbine. Fig. 51s a sectureof theexplodingcharge beforeitfenters tional view'on a somewhat larger scalethan 110 f5 the turbine cylinder; and, A`finally, the con- Fig.' 1, of aportion of a vreciprocating engine struction` of an engine wine@ 1ssimpler, cylmder and itsvalve. Fig. 6 isa longituis a cross section ofthe same. Fig.8 .is a A cross section of the turbine engine.

' In carrying my processinto effect, 1 prefer to employ .two kauxiliarypower and charging cylinders of substantially a' well knownreciprocating two-cycle type, coacting with a single turbine cylinder orrotor. Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate such an arrangement, the referencenumeral 1 designating the reciprocating cylinders; 2, the trunk pistonsconnected by pitmen 3 to a common crank shaft 4; 5, the movablevane-members of the turbine, and 6 the shaft thereof connected@ to saidcommon shaft 4 by bevel gears 7, 8 adapted to permit the shaft 6 nearlyten times the speed of said crank shaft.

From a point of each cylinder 1 to be uncovered by its pistonimmediately after half working-stroke, extends a divergingnozzle 9adapted to deliver `the discharge from said cylinders to the vanes ofthe turbine;.each nozzle being controlled by a piston valve 10 operatedby a cam 11 on the crank shaft. The case 12 of each piston valve' isprovided with' a chamber 13 kept full-of water from a. receptacle 14communicating through a pipe 15 entering the lioor'of the chamber. Asshown in Figs. 2, 6 and 7, water is admittedjwithin the passage way 16through i each piston valve by means of a small vent 17 coactingwith aport 19 through the case 12 at a certain point of the valves travel.

Each cylinder v1 is formed with a port 2O normally closed y -a puppetvalve 21, the stem 22 ofl which. s formed to act as aneedle valve forclosing simultaneously the water pipe 23. 'When said valve is opened, asby a .vacuum 'Within the cylinder, both air and water are admittedtogether.

Within the turbine case 25 are a Vseries of movable vane-members 5'fixed upon the shaft 6- and rotative therewith, while fixed to theinterior of said case are the stationary vane-members 26, shown in Fig.3, posi- `tioned between the movable vanes but not in i actual contacttherewith. To inclose the open inner ends of the vanes 2 6, drums 27 Y(Fig. 4) are fixed on the shaft 6, as shown in Fig. 1. j Hence when ablast of gas strikes the nearer movable vanes in a directionsubstantially parallel with Ithe. shaftv 6, such blast .will reactbetween the movablevanes tionary manner, until all the power resid- ,ingin the blast'has been consumed andthe shaft is rotating with itsmaximum' speer. As shown in Fig. 2, I `preferto have the nozzles'9eonnectwith the head of the tur-- bine case at diametrically .oppositeoints.

The steps of my processare asfo ows: In' starting the engine, the clutch30 is thrown.v

'to unclutch the turbine section, and the cocks a 31 are clqsed to shutoff the water from the Y pipes 23. Then the shaft 4 is cranked up in theusual manner, sucking in air through the ports 20, then forcing a chargefrom`the crank cases 32 into the cylinders 1 to mix with such air, untilproper ignition causes an explosion of one or. both charges and thereciprocating cylinders begin to operate.`

The exhaust fromthe cylinders discharges into the turbine, but, thelatter being unclutc'hed and running idle, gives no resist` ance to theexhaust nor to the starting of the crank shaft and connected parts. Thecocks 31 are left closed until after the turbine has been clutched tothe shaft 4, and the cylinders begin to get-quite hot, then the water isturned on and permitted to spray into-the cylinders for cooling them.Now, immedii ately after a piston begins its working stroke, its valve10 opens the associated diverging nozzle 9, but the latter lremainsclosed by said piston until slightly past half stroke. The instant,therefore,4 that its crank reaches or' passes ,900, the diverging nozzleis-unclosed and the exhaust permitted to .discharge to the'vanes of theturbine. So great is the velocity and consequent momentum of theoutrushing gas that it leaves behind it a partial vacuum or rarelfactionsufficient' to open the pop valve and admit both air and a strong jet ofWater. As.. this water strikes the surfaces within the cylinder, thegreat heat of the latter instantly flashes the water into steam, andsuch steam" pressure acts both against the piston to :aid it in theremainder of its travel, but mainly to discharge through the divergingnozzle against. the vanes of the turbine and continue the rotation ofthe latter.r The quantity of water thus admitted to the cylinder isadjusted for the proper cooling of the same, so l' Hence, when suchmouthsV are unclosed, the

charge rushes into the cylinder and mixes with the moistened airtherein, ina proportion to give a most powerful mixture. The

piston now returns, the mixture is com# pressed and ignited, and thecycle'repeated. t should be noted that by exhausting at half stroke, andthen filling the cylinder with air and steam, practically every portionof thevv products of combustion are forced therefrom; whereas in theusual two cycle englne,

a considerable proportion of the exhaust re-` mains to be mixed with`the charge, and,

moreover, a quantity of the charge itself es- "capes with the exhaustbefore the exhaust port is closed. Hence, since in my device none of theexhaust remains to weaken the mixture, but the cylinder is filled withpure hydrocarbonV and oxygen; and, moreover, since-none of the chargeescapes Afrom the cylinder, every explosion is of maximum 4 'power andeconomy, as compared with the usual engine. Although the action of thereciprocating cylinders is' thus made effective and economical, suchcylinders are-not the primarypower-producing means of my engine, butmerely preliminary ,to the operation of the turbine. Theyare in effectcom- .pression chambers for the turbine, although adapted to add theirquota to the powerl communicated t`o the drive shaft 4.

. In previous attempts at combining reciprocating and rotary hydrocarbonengines,

the two were geared together to run at equal numbers of revolutions perunit of time.

They have never, however, proved successful, and the reason therefor Ihave discovered to be the fact that, among other causes, the motion ofthe turbine is so slow as to be wholly without eficiency. `l have,consequently, geared the-turbine to'run several `times faster than thereciprocating cylinders,-preferably ten to one. Another cause for suchinefficiency of former attempts was owing to the considerabledistances-the ex` haust was required to travel to reach the turbine. Inmy construction 'I reduce such travel to a minimum by positioning thereciprocating cylinders parallel with the rotary cylinder and closebeside the same, in prac. tice having the distances less even thanillustrated in Figs. l and 2.

Another diiiiculty in connection with a turbine explosion engine isfound to consist in the rapid erosion and injury to the thin vanesthereof by the intensely hot gases. To remedy this, T. have provided thewater A jet entering each nozzle 9 through the small vent 17, as alreadydescribed. When the piston valve 10 is presented to its open position,as it is during the first half of the y working stroke of each piston,said vent is directly above the opening- 19 (Fig. 7 of the valve case12, and a tiny stream of water is consequently being forced by gravityinto the nozzle 9 and converted by the residual heat ofthe parts intosteam, which travels toward the turbine vanes. The instant the pistonuncovers its nozzle 9, the exhaust from the cylinder' bursts past thevent 17Qand impinges upon the turbine vanes., adding to their velocity.-The vanes -having Aalready been'cooled somewhat by the steam, and theexhaust itself being materially reduced in temperature by 4the steam,said vanes are kept from receiving 4an excessive and injurious heating.More` over, as the exhaust shoots past' the vent 17, a suction -isproduced which causes a still larger flow of Water therefrom. This alsoflashes into steam, further 4cooling the ex-` haust and metal parts,andgreatly increasing the volume of turbine-Operating fluid,

so that it is a fair question whether the turbine is not actuated bysteam pressure more than .by gas pressure. However that may be, it iscertain that a very large proportion of the heat ordinarily lost in aninternal combustion engine, is in my engine converted into propulsiveenergy, while at the same time the engine'is saved from the explosionengines, arising from the intense heat generated -by the instantaneouscombustion. v Y

, It should be noted further that the highest temperature and themaximum pressure the power communicated to said shaftby the turbine iscontinued from the instant of the uncovering of the nozzle until thepiston completes its compression-stroke, this long continuance comingfrom the action of the steam on the vanes of the turbineand vtheprolonged generation of such'steam. lBy

`injurious eEects ordinarily associated with combining two suchcylinders withv the turbine, not only is more power generated for thesame turbine, but the torque on the crank shaft is .thereby rendered notalone continuous, but practically uniform in intensity.' 'By having theturbine run at a high velocity compared with the reciprocating engine,the former is given an eficiency wholly lacking in a slower rotor. Suchspeed seems also to aid in the production of the vacuum needed in thefeeding in of the a'ir and water to the reciprocating turbines shaftrenders it practicable to mount thereon a magneto or generator 35 forignition and lighting purposes.

What I claim is:

cylinder. Further, the high speed of the 1. The process of producingpower by in- .i

ternal combustion consisting in compressing a'combustlble mixture inacombustion chamber having a piston, ignitingl the same,

utilizing a portion'of the expansive energy to actuate the piston,releasing the partially expanded gases from the combustion cham'- yberinto an expanding nozzle, interposing a body of water .in the path ofsaid gases the velocity of thelproduct'to actuate a-rotatable powertransmitting member.

2. The process of producing power by internal combustion consisting inVcompressto cool said gasesandby its vaporization to Y increase` thevolume thereof y and4 utilizing ing-a combustible mixture ina combustionchamber having a piston, igniting the same, utilizing a portion \ofl theexpansive energyv to actuate thepiston, releasing the partially expandedgases from the combustion chamber into an expanding nozzle, introducinga body of water in the path of said gases to cool said ases and by itsvaporization to incnasetevolume thereof, adding to the gases a furtheramount of water by inover-rich hydrocarbon, compressing the mixspirationand utilizing the velocity of the product to actuate a rotatable powertransmitting member.'

3. The process'gofproducing power byinternal combustion consisting inintroducing by inspiration linto a suitable combustion chamber having apiston definite amounts of airl and water, adding thereto a charge ofture thus' obtained, igniting the same, utilizing a portion oftheexpansive energy thus obtained to actuate the piston, releasing thepartially expanded gases and directing the same upon the blades of arotary power transmitting member, simultaneously supplying ,to saidexhausting .gases a fluid adapted to be volatilized by the heatof said.

gases and thereby to supplement the volume and velocity of the same. Y

4. The process of producingpower by an internal combustion engine havinga cylinder and a piston, consisting in introducing by inspiration duringthe exhaust stroke of.

the plston a definite amount `of air and water, adding thereto a; chargeof over-rich combustible gas, compressing .the mixturethus obtained,igniting the same, utilizing a portion of the energy thus created toactuate said piston, exhausting the gases when partially expanded,treating the .same with a 1 body of liquid adapted upon contact withsaidgases to cool the same and'bvvapori- 'zation 'tof increase the volumethereof and l utilizing the volume 'and velocity lof the product toimpel a rotary power transmitting member.

'5. A power producing means comprising areciprocating internalcombustion engine having a cylinder and a piston, means for said engine,a conduit for receiving the exturbine, a valve located at anintermediate supplying said cylinder with a ,hydro-carbon mixture, meansfor igniting said mixture 'after compression by 'said piston, a turbine,

having blades` operatively connected with haust gases from said cylinderand -delivering them against the vanes of said point of said conduit andhavin an opening, said .valve being adapted or closing said conduit andfor presenting said opening thereto and meansfor delivering -water intosaid opening.

6. power producing means comprising a combustion cylinder and a piston,means 'for' supplying a hydro-carbon mixture to said cylinder, means forigniting said mixture .after compression by said piston,` a turbine, anexpanding nozzle leading from said cylinder at a point substantially atthe midstrokeof said piston to sald turbine, 'a

7. A power producing means comprising.

a reciprocating internal combustion -engine having a cylinder and apiston, a conduit disposed to receive the dischargefrom said engine athalf working stroke, a turbine having vanes and. operatively connectedwith said engine, a conduit'adapted to deliver and discharge againstsaid vanes, a valve having an opening, said cylinder having an exhaustport at half stroke connecting with said" conduit, means for moving saidvalve to present saidopening to said conduit before the .engine pistonreaches half stroke and means for delivering -water into said opening. v

8. The combination of a reciprocating internal'combustion engine, aturbine engine operatively connected therewith, a nozzle for directingthe exhaust from the reciprocating engine to the turbine engine for theactuating of the 1atter,n 1eans for surrounding the exterior of saidnozzle with water, a .piston valve controlling said nozzle and having atransverse hole through it composing a section of said nozzle, saidvalve having an opening connecting with the surrounding water and apiston valve having a vent adapted periodically to coperate with thelast named opening for theadmission of water to the nozzle.

In testimony that `.lclaim the foregoing invention, I have hereunto setmy hand this 9th day of July, 1913. y

LDEMPSLEY. Witnesses:

A.- B. UPHAM,

'HARRYV SILvERMAN.

